A B.C. judge recently dismissed a claim related to a civil forfeiture in Mission that occurred over a dozen years ago.
The forfeiture was related to an RCMP search of a Degraff Road property in 2008 which found dried cannabis and equipment “commonly associated” with marijuana grow operations.
John Krist was charged in connection with the grow operation and acquitted of those charges in 2012. The property was registered in the name of Krist’s once common-law wife, Lois Lynne Griffey.
Krist sought damages from the Crown and accused the civil forfeiture director of negligence for failing to explicitly name Krist as a defendant.
Krist claimed it violated his Charter rights and resulted in the loss of 1,620 ounces of gold, 2,500 ounces of silver and a coin stamp collection in a shipping container and vehicle on the property.
According to the decision document, the province claims the property was uninhabitable and subject to vandalism, and both the container and vehicle appeared abandoned.
The forfeiture action was filed in March 2011 with the court issuing a settlement order in October of that year. Civil forfeiture agents accessed the property in May 2012.
In 2013, Krist filed an affidavit alleging theft of gold. Applications from Krist to set aside the settlement order and to be added as a defendant in the civil forfeiture action were dismissed in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
The civil claim that was dismissed by the judge on Oct. 21, 2024 was initially filed in November 2015.
“The delay in the proceedings to date has been inordinate. I find this to be so both with reference to the overall time that has passed since the filing of the claim, and with reference to the lack of any recent steps taken to advance the claim,” the judge said.
Per the documents, Krist’s lawyer acknowledged it may appear no steps had been taken to advance the claim but said that was not accurate. The lawyer says Krist has been taking steps outside the trial process.
“Krist was trying to gather information from third parties relating to the RCMP and the [civil forfeiture] director’s knowledge of his equitable interest in the Mission property in 2011. He further states that this issue goes to what he described as “the crux” of Mr. Krist’s civil claim, which was that Mr. Krist was never granted standing in the Forfeiture Action, but should have been, because of his interest in the Mission Property,” the document reads.
However, the judge found the explanation didn’t provide a sufficient excuse for the delay in prosecuting the claim.
The claim was dismissed for want of prosecution – meaning the plaintiff failed to actively pursue or prosecute the case within a specified period of time.
The judge ordered that all items moved from the Mission property held by the province are deemed abandoned and will be sold or disposed of.
The judge also disagreed with Krist’s claim that that because he was not separately represented throughout the forfeiture proceedings, he did not fully participate.
“He was involved in retaining counsel at the outset and conferred with counsel leading up to the consent order, and was variously represented … in the continuation of those proceedings. Not being separately represented throughout does not mean that Mr. Krist did not fully participate,” the document reads.
